Bringing you shipping, freight, trade and transport related news of interest for Africa since 2002

 

Stay Well, Stay Safe, Stay Patient, don’t become one

Advertise here – left & right sidebar column banner space also available – strengthen brand awareness at affordable rates – email us for a Rate Card to terry@africaports.co.za

For a free daily newsletter via email?  Send your email marked NEWSLETTER to terry@africaports.co.za 

♠♠♠

Join us as we report through 2022

‘and stay up to date with Africa Ports & Ships’ 

**********

TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

These news reprts are updated on an ongoing basis. Check back regularly for the latest news as it develops – where necessary refresh your page at www.africaports.co.za

Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return  

FIRST VIEW:   SYROS TRADER

• Fires out on board NS Qingdao, ship moves to Saldanha Bay
• Sandock Austral Shipyards and Vard Marine get together via MoU
• WHARF TALK: Saudi-flagged oil products tanker – NCC SAFA
• New container handling equipment enhances Monrovia’s port service delivery
• IMO supports Women in Ports management capacity building
• Meals on Wheels & SAMSA provide food parcels for crew of abandoned ships in Durban port
• HMS Spey and Tonga tsunami relief
• Positive year-end results for Port of Maputo
• Cyclone Ana: Flooding in Tete province, bridges down
• WHARF TALK: back from the Antarctic – SILVER ARCTIC
• Tema’s MPS Terminal 3 breaks productivity record on MSC Ivana
• IN CONVERSATION: US trade pact suspensions: what it means for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea
• Keeping the Global South safe and secure: South Atlantic and Indian Oceans
• Terminal 3: Port of Tema signs contract for another 15 ship-handling cranes
• WHARF TALK: LR1 Panamax tanker – GULF HORIZON
• MSC Orchestra on her way to Marion Island
• IN CONVERSATION: Somaliland’s quest for recognition: UK debate offers hint of a sea change
• Record cargo at the Port of Felixstowe
• DoT Minister Mbalula unveils investments to support Operation Phakisa
• Cyclone Ana goes ashore in Mozambique, flood warnings sound
• Cape Town Council concerned over delays at Cape Town port
• WHARF TALK: successful Supramax bulker – MAGNUM ENERGY
• Tanzania and Burundi agree on rail connection to Dar es Salaam
• EU Navies to continue with Gulf of Guinea patrols
• IN CONVERSATION: Nanosatellite launch is a big step forward for African space science
• Tropical Cyclone ANA 07S reaches Mozambique coast
• Tanger Med Port Results: 7 million TEU mark exceeded
• Transport minister to visit Dormac Marine, then address captains of industry
• Durban port R100 billion Master Plan
• Cyclone considered likely over Mozambique Channel and coast
• Lowest reported maritime piracy incidents: Caution urged nevertheless
• IN CONVERSATION: Africa faces an uphill battle against western emissions to combat climate change
• British warship intercepts over one ton of illegal drugs in Gulf of Oman
• First ship-to-containership LNG bunkering operation performed on CMA CGM Bali

News continues below

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

• EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND HERE AT NEWS CATEGORIES…….

The Monday masthead shows the Port of Durban Multi-purpose Terminal
The Tuesday masthead shows the Port of Durban Island View Liquid Terminal
The Wednesday masthead shows the Port of Durban Maydon Wharf
The Thursday masthead shows the Port of Cape Town Elliott Basin
The Friday masthead shows the Port of  Cape Town dry dock
The Saturday masthead shows Port of Cape Town Tanker Basin
The Sunday masthead shows the Port of Port of Cape Town Duncan Dock

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

SEND NEWS REPORTS AND PRESS RELEASES TO   info@africaports.co.za

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

FIRST VIEW:   SYROS TRADER 

Our First View this week is of a doughty workhorse of the sea, the fully loaded British bulk carrier SYROS TRADER (IMO 9395214) shown here sailing from Durban towards the end of December 2021. The 53,408-dwt bulker was bound for India, where she arrived 17 days later and went to anchor at the Hazira anchorage approximately 11 miles SW of the Magdalla harbour. Magdalla is a port on India’s west coast about 120 n.miles north of Mumbai.

Syros Trader was built in 2008 and has had a number of operators and names since then, ranging from Handorf in 2008, Daewoo Brave the same year, UBC Longkou from 2009 and Longkou from 2015, Teton from 2016 and Syros Trader since October last year.

The ship is 190 metres in length and 32m wide and was sailing from Durban with a reported 12.1 metre draught. Her homeport is Monrovia under the Liberian flag.

The ship is registered under the name Syros Trader Shipping Ltd, care of the ship,  commercial and ISM manager, Lomar Shipping Ltd of London.

The pictures are by Keith Betts

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

NEWS

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Fires out on board NS Qingdao, ship moves to Saldanha Bay

The bulk carrier, NS QINGDAO (IMO 9567439) arrived off the port of Saldanha Bay from nearby St Helena Bay last week, and has been taken to a berth in port where the balance of her chemical cargo can be removed for disposal.

This latest development became possible after the fire in cargo hold no.3 was finally brought under control.

As a result the emergency has now been downscaled from a Severe Maritime Emergency to a salvage operation that can be safely managed in port, says the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA). NS Qingdao entered port on Friday 28 January at 10h49.

The decision to move her into port at Saldanha Bay was taken by the Joint Operations Committee (JOC) after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and SAMSA representatives conducted a vessel inspection offshore to determine whether it was safe to do so and after reviewing reports from the Chemical and Fire specialists onboard.

Transnet National Port Authority said it was comfortable with the vessel entering the port.

The JOC comprises of National, Provincial government officials and includes local municipal representatives. The JOC members have been actively involved in managing this maritime emergency since the vessel was evacuated from the port of Durban.

Salvage experts have been working around the clock to contain and extinguish the fire onboard the vessel since the bulk carrier was hastily evacuated from Durban harbour on 27 October 2021. At that time the ship was releasing toxic fumes from the cargo in hold 3, and once outside SAMSA instructed the vessel to proceed to St Helena Bay, with a tug dispatched as escort along the way.

On reaching St Helena Bay on the West Coast, attempts were made to extinguish the fire by discharging the reactive cargo via skips offshore. The discharged cargo was then taken to the High Hazardous Vissershok waste management site, but the operation was hampered by the location of the affected cargo within the cargo hold.

In early December NS Qingdao was escorted offshore by an offshore tug after the fire unexpectedly re-ignited, causing a large volume of toxic fumes to be released, which entered the engine room resulting in its evacuation.

Due to the fast deteriorating conditions and to save the ship and people onboard, the JOC decided to conduct an emergency dump of the absolute bare minimum of reactive cargo 250km offshore in 3000m of water.

This was carried out with an emergency permit issued by the DFFE. Approximately. 1300 tonnes of cargo was dumped offshore which enabled the situation on the ship to be brought back under control. The operation was monitored through onboard drones and DFFE satellite imaging and the JOC can confirm that no immediate environmental damage was observed.

It was reported that the hot cargo cooled rapidly and dissolved very quickly in the ocean. Although no immediate environmental damage was noticed, SAMSA and the DFFE nevertheless engaged in discussions with the vessel owner and insurers to arrange a medium to long term environmental monitoring program so that any potential future outfall can be managed responsibly as fast as possible.

Following this NS Qingdao returned to anchor in St Helena Bay for two weeks to allow the authorities to monitor the cargo and establish whether it was safe for the ship to enter port.

The affected portion of the chemical cargo will be discharged in port by the salvors and chemical waste specialists, before being taken to the High Hazardous Waste Management site at Vissershok. Once that has been achieved the stevedores will discharge the balance of cargo.

As an interested state, SAMSA said it has concluded an investigation cooperation agreement with the Marshall Islands Maritime Authorities. The cause of the incident remains under investigation and a chemical analysis of the cargo will be completed while the vessel is in port to determine the underlying casual factors for the fire and whether NS Qingdao had any undeclared cargo in the hold.

The entire operation has been conducted with vessel owner, master and P&I Club cooperating with the South African authorities.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 29 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Sandock Austral Shipyards and Vard Marine get together via MoU

Durban-based shipyard Sandock Austral Shipyards (SAS) and Vard Marine, a division of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim of developing a collaborative relationship.

Since 2014 North American-based Vard Marine has been part of the Norwegian shipbuilder and designer, Vard Group AS, which provides the North American division with access to the Vard Group’s incomparable databases and complementary knowledge and expertise in shipbuilding and integration studies.

The MoU signed now by SAS and Vard Marine allows for SAS to compete with the confidence gained from leveraging the extensive Vard portfolio of existing designs and tailored design approach.

The South African Navy’s hydrographic survey vessel (HSV) currently under construction at the SAS shipyard at Bayhead, Durban, under the codename Project Hotel and claimed to be the most complex Hydrographic Survey Vessel in the world, is to a Vard design.

According to SAS, Vard Marine offers professional ship design, engineering, and shipbuilding technology services to its clients. It said the recent signing of the MOU with SAS will create opportunities for SAS to promote Vard Marine designs to clients with the assurance that the proven Vard brand and reputation brings to the market.

Charles Maher, the Head of Marketing and Sales at SAS said that the agreement cements an already proven relationship with Vard Marine. He said that Vard Marine collaborated with SAS to develop the initial concept of the HSV vessel and ensured that the design complied with the Armscor Tender requirements, helping SAS to win the tender.

After award, Vard Marine developed the classification design package for SAS.

Explaining what the recent understanding will mean for the two companies, Maher said: “Vard Marine has a significant range of skillsets and capabilities that allows development of innovative and efficient design solutions through both the tailoring of proven and clean sheet designs. Initially, we will be concentrating on their range of Naval and Defence vessels that we will help bring to new customers.”

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 28 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: Saudi-flagged oil products tanker – NCC SAFA

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

Considering the amount of crude oil, and refined products, that are currently being delivered to South African ports from Saudi Arabia, it is still a rare thing to see it arrive in a Saudi flagged tanker, and one from a fleet that is the largest in the Middle East. Not that the Saudi flag is totally a rare thing in South Africa, with the regular arrival of the large Bahri Con-Ro vessels at Durban.

Back on 6th January at 06h00 the MR2 tanker NCC SAFA (IMO 9411329) arrived off Cape Town, previously having discharged parcels of refined fuel products at both Mombasa and then Durban. She had started her voyage at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia. On arrival, she proceeded into Cape Town harbour, and went straight to the tanker berth in the Duncan Dock to start her third fuel parcel discharge of this current voyage.

Built in 2011 by SLS Shipbuilding of Tongyeong in South Korea, ‘NCC Safa’ is 183 metres in length, and has a deadweight of 45,471 tons. She is powered by a single MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C6 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 11,640 bhp (8,439 kW), to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 15 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three MAN-B&W 7L23/30H generators providing 1,120 kW, and a single Cummins 6CTA-8.3-D(M) emergency generator providing 138 kW. She has an Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission OC Composite exhaust gas boiler, and an Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission OL oil fired boiler. She has 20 cargo tanks, as per her marked manifold on her hull and a cargo carrying capacity of 47,729 m3.

She is owned by National Chemical Carriers (NCC) Ltd. of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and both operated and managed by Bahri Ship Management Ltd. of Dubai in the UAE. Her owning company acronym forms the prefix to her name, and NCC are a subsidiary of the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA), who are better known as Bahri, where the word bahri means ‘of the sea’ in Arabic. Her funnel bears the Bahri houseflag.

The NCC fleet, under Bahri management, are the largest Medium Range fleet of tankers in the Middle East, having a fleet of 1.3 million deadweight tons. One of nine sisterships built for NCC, at a cost of 1.72 million Saudi Riyals (ZAR7.03 million), ‘NCC Safa’ is registered in the port of Damman, in Saudi Arabia, located on the Persian Gulf side of the Kingdom.

Interestingly, for an MR2 sized tanker, one would have thought that once her parcel discharge at Cape Town was complete, the third such two day stop on her voyage, after Mombasa and Durban, that ‘NCC Safa’ would have then sailed in ballast back to her next loading port.

However, on 8th January at 10h00, she sailed from Cape Town, bound for Nacala in Mozambique. On arrival at Nacala, ‘NCC Safa’ spent a further two days alongside discharging her final parcel of products, before finally sailing for Singapore on 17th January with an ETA of 31st January.

As befits a tanker owned out of Saudi Arabia, she had anti-piracy measures visible on arrival at Cape Town, with razor wire strung along her railings at main deck level, for the full length of her hull. The razor wire had been carefully rolled back at those points required to be clear for her arrival, i.e. around all her fairlead mooring points, ready for berthing, and immediately in front of her tank manifold, ready for her impending discharge.

One does wonder at the commercial benefits of a four stop discharge schedule, with the port rotation which she carried out, first passing Nacala southbound, before a northbound call. No doubt, that on arrival at Singapore, her managers will assign ‘NCC Safa’ to one of the many oil refineries, and oil storage terminals, which are located in, and around, Singapore in order for her to load for her next voyage.

Her initial loading port for this present voyage, Pasir Gudang, is located directly opposite the north shore of Singapore Island, in the Malaysian state of Johor. The bulk liquid terminal includes the world’s largest Palm Oil storage terminal. The oil terminal has four jetties, consisting of nine berths, and the storage terminal itself has a 1,000,000 m3 capacity, with biodiesel being a major storage product. A total of 468,000 m3 storage capacity is provided for Palm Oil.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

New container handling equipment enhances Monrovia’s port service delivery

APM Terminals Liberia, which manages and operates the Port of Monrovia Container Terminal, has acquired new container handling equipment to help improve port efficiency at the Free Port of Monrovia.

The terminal operator said that the equipment, 3 new Kalmar Reach Stackers and 4 modernised, Twin-Lift Spreaders, will improve service delivery and the ease of doing business.

Purchased at a cost of US$ 1.5 million, the reach stackers and twin-lift spreaders form part of the company’s investment into retooling the terminal.

At a brief ceremony held to mark the arrival of the equipment, Deputy Finance Minister Augustus Flomo told stakeholders that it was government’s intention of supporting key companies such as APMT who he said are at the heart of the Liberian economy.

He added that port efficiency remains crucial for accelerated economic growth.

“As a government, we have been keen on digitising the processes at the port, increasing the infrastructure and improving its relevance to the economic acceleration of Liberia,” he said.

“We believe that these pieces of equipment complement our agenda in this direction. We want to commend APMT for these continuous investments,” he added.

Managing Director of the National Port Authority, Bill Twehway, sent a message commending APMT for the further investment in the terminal. “Investment into Port facilities does not only impact positively on the customer’s experience but ultimately contributes to the overall productivity at the Port,” his message said.

According to Erickson Trocon Brown, Head of Operations at APMT Liberia, the new addition will significantly improve the ease with which operational staff are able to go about their work. “We are always aiming to improve our operational performance and this underlines our commitment to continuously invest in more operational tools,” he said.

With the new equipment having already been placed in service, several port users have expressed relief at how turnaround time has been significantly improved. They said delays in turnaround time had long been a source of frustration to port users.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

IMO supports Women in Ports management capacity building

Good African participation

IMO is continuing its efforts to support the careers of women in the maritime sector through delivery of a two-week online course from 17 – 28 January 2022. The Women in Port Management (WIPM) course, which has been running for 18 years in France, is open to women officials from maritime and/or port authorities of developing countries in Francophone Africa. It aims to help attendees improve their skills for management and operational efficiency at the ports they work in. This was reported by the IMO media service on 24 January.

WIPM, held at Institut Portuaire d’Enseignement et de Recherche (IPER), includes lectures on port management, port security, port environment, facilitation of maritime traffic, the ship/port interface, concession contracts, as well as port marketing, tariffs and logistics. They also learned about IMO’s Member State Audit scheme.

Attendees usually undertake a study visit to gain first-hand knowledge of the day-to-day operations of an overseas port. This will allow them to look at implementing similar operating practices back in their respective countries.

This year’s course was attended by participants from eleven French speaking countries: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Lebanon, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia. A visit to the Port of Le Havre and the Port of Rouen (both of which fall under HAROPA Port) is being organized in the spring.

The WIPM course is organised under IMO’s gender and capacity-building programme, in collaboration with IPER and HAROPA PORT and held at Le Havre (pictured). It is part of IMO’s ongoing efforts to support the UN Sustainable Development Goal No 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Meals on Wheels & SAMSA provide food parcels for crew of abandoned ships in Durban port

The crew of two abandoned ships in Durban harbour this week received the first of a month’s supply of food aid after their plight was brought to the attention of SAMSA and the Meals on Wheels Community Services.

One of the two vessels, FAIRY TALE (IMO 9660413), has been detained at the port of Durban since at least May 2016, with the tanker supposedly to have been auctioned in October that year.

PSD2 (IMO 8319615), better known as the former PENTOW SERVICE while in AMSOL service, recently arrived back in the port where she once operated as a service vessel to the offshore single buoy mooring (SBM). PSD2 is now registered under the Tanzania flag. According to SAMSA this vessel has now been abandoned by its owners, leaving crew on board both stranded and without food or money.

Between the two ships there are a total of 18 crew – 1 Irani, 6 Bangladeshi, and 11 Indian nationals.

According to SAMSA the 18 seafarers have not been paid salaries for several months and were on the point of running out of food. That was when the Revd Thami Tembe from the Mission to Seafarers made a desperate call to SAMSA for assistance.

SAMSA in turn made a call to the non-profit organisation called Meals on Wheels Community Services South Africa, who without hesitation made food parcels available to the seafarers.

The food parcels comprising various nutritious foods were delivered to the 18 seafarers on 18 January 2022 by a team from Meals on Wheels, led by its National Programmes Director Mr Gershon Naidoo. It is estimated that the food supplies will last the seafarers for up to 4 weeks.

“Meals on Wheels Community Services South Africa is well known for helping those who are poverty-stricken within the borders of South Africa with nutritious meals and food security,” said Naidoo.

This is our first venture into the maritime space, he added, saying that Meals on Wheels hopes that there will be many more opportunities to partner with SAMSA and The Mission to Seafarers.

More details about Meals on Wheels is available https://mealsonwheels.org.za/

Abandonment occurs when the shipowner fails to fulfil certain fundamental obligations to the seafarer relating to timely repatriation and payment of outstanding remuneration and to the provision of necessities of life, inter alia, adequate food, accommodation, and medical care. Abandonment will have occurred when the master of the ship has been left without any financial means in respect of ship operation.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

HMS Spey and Tonga tsunami relief

HMS Spey arrived in Tonga on 26 January where her ship’s company crew have unloaded disaster relief following the devastating Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami of 14 January.

The Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) delivered UK Aid stores comprising:

* 30,000 litres of bottled water

* Medical supplies for over 300 first aid kits

* PPE

* Basic sanitation and baby products.

The warship arrived into Nuku’alofa, the capital city of Tonga on the island of Tongatapu. Currently the aid stores are being collected at a logistics hub as part of international aid efforts. The supplies are then coordinated and will be moved to islands near to the volcano that were severely impacted by the disaster.

Tonga’s protective Covid regulations means that sailors could not disembark the ship so all stores were moved using Spey’s crane. The packaging and moving deliveries by crane involved the whole ship’s company.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey commented: “Responding to humanitarian crises across the globe is a core part our of Armed Forces’ daily business. The ship’s company of HMS Spey have demonstrated that this week by delivering this vital aid.

“The UK is a long-standing partner of the Pacific Islands and having the ship deployed in the Indo-Pacific meant that we could be there for Tonga in their hour of need, as the Island begins to rebuild their homes and communities.”

Nuku’alofa is away from the worst damage, however there are still visible signs of ash and debris coating the rooftops and trees along the shore.

New Zealand’s HMNZS Aotearoa and Australia’s HMAS Adelaide, carrying vital UK Aid supplies requested by the Tongan government, have arrived off the coast of Tonga and were preparing to disembark their supplies (as at 26.01.22 / 15h00 GMT).

Commander Michael Proudman, CO of Spey added: “I am immensely proud of my Ship’s Company. Their flexibility, hard work and speed of reaction in assisting our Commonwealth Friends in Tonga demonstrate the epitome of a modern, global Royal Navy, ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

“We wish the people of Tonga the very best in their recovery from this terrible disaster and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”

Spey will continue to work closely with the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Royal Australian Navy and with other allies to coordinate relief efforts with the Tongan Authorities and the British High Commission. The UK has provided a liaison officer to the Australian-led International Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Coordination Cell.

HMS Spey has now returned to sea but remains on task in Tongan waters ready to help where needed in coming days.

Chief Petty Officer Head, the Cox’n on board HMS Spey, led efforts to unload stores. He reflected: “I am slinger-trained so I assist the crane operators as they offload water and stores. It is hot day out in the sun, so it is good to see the whole ship’s company working together, rotating positions where needed and keeping water bottles topped up. We are looking after each other and we are glad our work can support international aid efforts and help Tonga.”

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Positive year-end results for Port of Maputo

The Port of Maputo in Mozambique ended the year 2021 on a positive note with a record growth of 21% compared with 2020. During the year ending 3e1 December 2021, Maputo registered a cargo throughput of 22.2 million tonnes against the 18.3 million tonnes of 2020.

The previous highest throughput was in 2019, just before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, when the port registered 21 million tonnes of cargo.

Management of the port, Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), said on Wednesday (26 January 2022) that the growth in the past year is a reflection of a market recovery post-COVID, but also of the efficient usage of the rehabilitated berths 7, 8 and 9, along with an expanded ferro slab footprint and dedicated rail siding.

“Although still not concluded – the full rehabilitation including dredging is estimated to be delivered in April – the port has already reaped the fruits of this infrastructure development,” said Osório Lucas, MPDC CEO.

“The rehabilitation and reinforcement of the quays surface allowed berthing space for bigger vessels. Paired with the dredging performed in 2017 and other marine efficiency measures, the port successfully broke all its handling records, having registered a maximum of 145,545 tonnes of magnetite loaded in one vessel (at the Matola Coal Terminal) and a record of 140,000 tonnes of chrome ore loaded in a MPDC operation.”

Rail volumes for chrome and ferro-chrome registered a slight decrease of 4% compared to the previous year. The rail versus road ratio has also decreased from 25%/75% in 2020 to 21%/79% in 2021.

“With the recent upgrades and investment in rail infrastructure inside the port, there is huge potential for growth in rail volumes,” Lucas said.

He said that in the past couple of years, the joint work between MPDC, CFM and TFR has also paved the way for an improvement in rail efficiencies. “We trust that the stakeholders will address the current challenges together so that we continue to work on more balanced volumes between rail and road cargo.”

Automated solutions

The investment and implementation of automation solutions within the port continued throughout 2021, with the completion and activation of the Vessel Arrival Notification (VAN) system, the Rail Arrival Notification (RAN) system, the automation of all port weighbridges and, last but not least, the promotion and establishment of
the integration between Customs, Single Electronic Window systems and port systems, to improve the efficiency in border crossing.

This last initiative is part of a larger action plan, conceived by a joint committee (composed of stakeholders including MPDC, to address bottlenecks in the Maputo Corridor and thus improve the efficiency of cargo flow in and out of Mozambique.

Covid-19 pandemic

2021 was a year of hardship with regards to the COVID pandemic, resulting in the loss of many lives in Mozambique. “MPDC decided to lead an initiative to vaccinate, through the Health Ministry, private sector staff and families, thus decreasing the pressure on the public sector and accelerating the vaccination in the country,” said Lucas.

The initiative named Univax led to the vaccination of staff and families of 320 plus companies in Mozambique and a donation of almost 200,000 vaccine doses for the public sector.

For 2022, the Port of Maputo remains optimistic with a good prospect of continued growth, said Lucas. “We believe that we will embrace the full potential of our investment both in infrastructure, technological solutions and human capital. In May, we will present the new masterplan for the Port of Maputo and introduce the future of the port for all Mozambicans.”

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Cyclone Ana: Flooding in Tete province, bridges down

Details are beginning to emerge of the widespread damage caused by heavy rains over central Mozambique and adjacent countries by Cyclone Ana, a tropical storm that ironically barely reached the status of being acknowledged as a cyclone.

The TS in fact ceased being referred to a a cyclone once it crossed the Mozambique coast and headed inland. Nevertheless it has brought widespread heavy rains to a country still recovering from previous cyclones of a year ago.

The Portuguese language newspaper O Pais reported on Wednesday that one of the casualties of the current storm system was the administrator of Tete province, José Maria Mandere, who was found dead after being swept away by the overflowing Revúbuè River.

Mandere was part of an entourage accompanying the Governor of the province of Tete, Domingos Viola. The group was surprised by the sheer volume of water that also destroyed the bridge over the river.

Governor Viola said that they were able to rescue most of the occupants of the vehicles travelling with him at the time. He said “the bridge over the Revúbuè river collapsed, [and] we have more than 2,000 people who suffered from the floods.”

One of those rescued after a search was a journalist from Radio Mozambique who was accompanying the governor’s entourage. Four official cars including that of the Governor of Tete, the mayor of Tete city, and the administrator were washed off the road. While most people in the group were rescued the administrator’s body was found later at Benga, 8 km downstream.

The bridge that was washed away had been repaired in 2020 at a cost of US$ 3.7 million after being damaged by Cyclone Idai in 2019. On this occasion the Revúbuè River rose 4 metres above alert level and was still rising yesterday. The Lucungo and other rivers have also flooded and cut the roads in the area. There is also warning of flooding in Beira and rain-induced landslides in Chimoio and Gondola. Other regions may have suffered similarly.

Lusa reports that 12 deaths have so far been reported.

New tropical storm threatens Mauritius group

Meanwhile, a new tropical storm is developing in the Indian Ocean and current projection suggest it is likely to pass near Rodrigues Island (part of the Mauritius or Mascarene archipelago) by Sunday or Monday (30/31 January). The reports say it has the potential to develop into a strong tropical storm or cyclone.

Africa Ports & Ships will be monitoring the progress and development of this latest storm system which is no approaching the path of the major Indian Ocean trade lane between the Cape of Good Hope and South East Asia.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: back from the Antarctic – SILVER ARCTIC

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

As we move into late January, the Antarctic resupply season is now seeing vessels on their homeward leg, after completion of their voyage to Antarctica. It is a time when you get to see, for a second time, a vessel that passed through the Antarctic Gateway port of Cape Town only one month ago. What is always nice to see is an Antarctic resupply vessel on its maiden voyage to the Southern continent, and therefore what was her maiden call at Cape Town.

Back in December, just before Christmas, the small polar cargo vessel SILVER ARCTIC (IMO 9618173) arrived at Cape Town on the 23rd December at 20h00, for bunkers and stores only. Only nine hours later, she sailed early on 24th December for the Norwegian Antarctic base of Troll. It was her maiden voyage to Antarctica, and her maiden voyage south of the Equator.

Fast forward one month, and ‘Silver Arctic’, having completed her resupply mission to Antarctica, arrived off Cape Town on 24th January at 17h00, and proceeded into Cape Town harbour, and once more went alongside the Eastern Mole in the Duncan Dock, in order to take on bunkers and stores, prior to her continuing her voyage back to Norway.

Delivered in April 2021 by Remontowa Shipbuilding at Gdansk in Poland, ‘Silver Arctic’ is 74 metres in length and has a deadweight of 2,606 tons. She is powered by a single MAN-B&W 6L27/38 6 cylinder 4 stroke main engine, producing 2,774 bhp (2,040 kW) to drive a controllable pitch propeller for a service speed of 12 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes two Scania DI16M generators providing 450 kW each, and a single Scania D19 emergency generator providing 200 kW. For added manoeuvrability ‘Silver Arctic’ has a Scana Volta transverse bow thruster providing 400 kW, and a Scana Volta transverse stern thruster providing 300 kW.

She has two cargo holds and a container carrying capacity of 118 TEU, with 80 reefer plugs provided. Her holds are serviced by a 45 ton Liebherr cylinder luffing crane, located aft, and a 35 ton TTS GPC knuckle boom crane, located forward. She is one of two sisterships, of the ACV 108 design, with an icebreaking bow for use in polar waters, and her classification is Ice class PC5, which allows for year round operations in medium first year ice.

Her build history is slightly convoluted, as she was actually ordered back in 2010 by the Royal Arctic Line (RAL) of Denmark, for use as a coastal feeder vessel in Greenland waters. However, the shipyard that won the order, P&S Werft of Stralsund in Germany, went into liquidation in 2012, and ‘Silver Arctic’ could not be completed, along with her sistership.

In 2013, her prospective owners, RAL, then transferred the vessels to the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk for completion. However, due to lengthy delays in completion, RAL refused to accept delivery of the vessels, and in 2018 they cancelled the contract. Both vessels remained in Gdansk until 2020 when RAL, made an offer for one of the sisters, which was named ‘Nanoq Arctica’ and she headed for Greenland.

In 2021 an offer was made for the second sister, by another company, and she was named ‘Silver Arctic’ and headed for Norway. Owned by Silver Liner AS of Bergen in Norway, ‘Silver Arctic’ is operated by Silver Sea AS of Bergen and managed by Fjord Shipping AS of Måløy in Norway. Her purchase price was in the region of €12 million (ZAR206.95 million).

Her voyage to Cape Town began in Tromsø in Norway, which is the location of the headquarters of the Norwegian Polar Institute, who operate Troll Station, and who had chartered ‘Silver Arctic’ to complete the 2021-2022 resupply of Troll. She also called into Rozenburg, which is part of the Europoort complex in Holland, to complete loading, prior to her voyage south.

Troll station is located at 72° 01 South 002° 32 East, on the Princess Martha Coast of Dronning (Queen) Maud Land. The base itself is situated 146 miles (235 km) inland from the coast, and the ‘Silver Arctic’ had to offload her cargo onto the Fimbul Iceshelf, where it will be taken overland, by Caterpillar train, back to Troll.

Whilst she was at the Fimbul Iceshelf, the Norwegian Research Vessel ‘Kronprins Haakon’ arrived, and both polar vessels were together for a short period. Already homeward bound to Tromsø, ‘Kronprins Haakon’ called into Cape Town, southbound, between 19th and 21st December (see Africa Ports and Ships 29th December 2021), and she arrived back in Cape Town, from Antarctica, on 20th January at 05h00 for bunkers. She sailed for Norway 17 hours later at Midnight on the same day.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Tema’s MPS Terminal 3 breaks productivity record on MSC Ivana

Ghana’s Port of Tema, Terminal 3 completed the 2021 year in grand fashion when the Meridian Port Services (MPS) operations team broke the best productivity record with 148.83 container moves per hour (cmph) achieved on the container ship, MSC IVANA.

This exceeded the previous best productivity level of 139.91 cmph involving another MSC container ship, MSC LIVORNO.

Another record set concerned the crane performance, with 5.5 cranes performing the operation at an average per crane performance of over 27 container moves per hour.

The number of containers handled on the ship was 3,233 TEU, performed with 2,423 crane moves – 1,058 discharge moves and 1,365 loadings. 434 of the moves involved transshipment containers, which MPS says is creating the regional intra-port connectivity that it is nurturing.

Meridian Port Services, a joint venture company between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), APM Terminals and Bolloré Transport & Logistics, said that reaching such a level of container handling efficiency on such a class of vessels is the result of the shareholders investment in the Tema Port expansion project.

This involved building a new infrastructure at the port of Tema including a larger and deeper harbour basin geared with the most modern gantry cranes and cutting-edge technologies coupled with continuous training and human resources development – see Africa PORTS & SHIPS report HERE.

The container ship

MSC IVANA (IMO 9398371) is operated by MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) and is sailing under the flag of Panama. Her length overall (LOA) is 363.57 metres and her width is 45.61 metres. The 131,771-gt vessel has a capacity of 11,700 TEU and is deployed on the MSC Africa Express Service (AFEX).

The port rotation of the AFEX service is Xingang – Busan – Gwangyang – Ningbo – Shanghai – Nansha – Shekou – Singapore – Colombo – Lomé – Tema – Durban – Port Louis – Colombo – Singapore – Xingang.

The MSC AFEX direct service not only offers fast transit times and reliability in the West African region but is also creating new business opportunities for clients between Far East, Oceania, Middle East, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ghana.

CEO of MPS, Mohamed Samara, remarked “It has been acknowledged by trade experts that one of the key factors for the realisation of the vision of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is the development of significant trade and transport infrastructure. MPS Terminal 3 is first amongst these infrastructures,” he said.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 27 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

IN CONVERSATION: US trade pact suspensions: what it means for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea

Zakaria Sorgho, Université Laval

Three African countries’ manufacturers have lost their tariff-free access to the US market this year. This follows the US decision in November last year to suspend Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The reason given for the decision was that it was in response to human rights violations and recent coups.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a trade programme designed to enhance sub-Saharan African countries’ access to US markets. The programme is an exception to World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles of reciprocity and non-discrimination. Nevertheless, it’s legally recognised by the Generalised System of Preferences adopted in 1968 and instituted in 1971 under the aegis of The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Under the GSP regime, developed countries can grant non-reciprocal trade preference to the world’s poorest countries to increase economic growth and reduce poverty. Established by the Trade Act of 1974 (amended July 31, 2015), the US Generalised System of Preferences have allowed the US to import up to 5,000 types of products duty free from 119 designated beneficiary countries and territories. Linked to this, the US grants regional preference programs.

Nowadays the US administration grants countries in the Caribbean, in Latin America and in Africa non-reciprocal trade preferences. These trade arrangements are managed under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the Andean Trade Preference Act and the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

For the sub-Saharan African region, the US administration passed the AGOA on May 18, 2000, as Title 1 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. Qualifying nations are afforded several key benefits, most importantly preferential access to US markets with zero duties for more than 6,400 products.

The criteria and conditions for African countries to be eligible depend entirely on the US. Each year, Washington determines which nations qualify. And the US president grants or withdraws beneficiary status at discretion.

Critics view the African Growth and Opportunity Act as an economic instrument of American foreign policy in Africa.

In the past, several countries have lost their membership of the programme. Examples include Niger (2010), Madagascar (2010–2014), Democratic Republic of Congo (2011–2019), Central African Republic (2013–2015), Eswatini (2014–2016) and The Gambia (2015–2016). The reason in these different cases was mainly that “democratic progress was threatened by political turmoil” and human rights violations.

Mali and Guinea have been suspended from the programme before: Mali in 2012 and Guinea in 2010. Six other former beneficiary countries remain excluded or suspended: South Sudan (since 2014), Burundi (since 2015), Cameroon (since 2019), Zimbabwe (since 2019), Mauritania (since 2019) and Eritrea (since 2004).

Given the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, suspension may have important implications for the economy of country concerned. A recent study showed that this unilateral trade agreement has allowed growth in the average African beneficiary countries’ exports to US.

However, in my view, the suspension of Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali from the trade programme is not particularly harmful to them. The US market does not play an important role in their export growth.

Despite commercial preferences granted under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, it’s difficult for these countries to access the US market. Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali are among the poorest countries in the world, with a major shortage of infrastructure and logistics, and a low income and highly undiversified economy. These countries mainly export primary commodities with weak value added. In the American market, they face competition from the similar products from Latin America.

The aim of preferential treatment

The African Growth and Opportunity Act aims to boost trade relations between Africa and the US by:

*reinforcing African reform efforts

*providing improved access to US technical expertise, credit and markets

*establishing a high-level dialogue on trade and investment with US firms.

Qualifying for the programme requires nations, as outlined in section 104, to improve their rule of law, defend human rights and respect international labour standards.

Currently, 39 of the 49 sub-Saharan African countries are beneficiaries excluding those temporarily suspended. Somalia and Sudan have never requested designation as a beneficiary country.

Equatorial Guinea (effective in 2011) and Seychelles (effective in 2017) are no longer eligible for trade benefits under the AGOA after having gained the high-income country status.

The numbers

The following two figures put in perspective the potential impact of suspension. Between 1996 and 2015, using data from the UN COMTRADE database, the first graph shows four, five-year averages of global exports of goods from each of the three suspended countries. The second reports the average share of exports to the US for every $100 of goods exported.

According to Figure 1, overall, the three countries experienced growth in global exports. Between the two, five-year periods 1996–2000 and 2001–2005, global exports from Guinea increased on average by 11% and from Ethiopia by 18%. Mali’s more than doubled over the two, five-year periods.

Subsequently, the three countries maintained the same growth trend. Global exports of each, over the period 2011–2015, represented more than double the average of exports during the period 2001–2005.

Despite preferential access granted under AGOA since 2000, countries have difficulty penetrating US markets.

As shown in Figure 2, the share of Guinean exports to the US continues to decline. For $100 of global exports, the US market contributed an average of $18.25 (before 2000).

This share decreased to $12.65 on average over the five-year period following the AGOA (2001–2005). It decreased to $5.33 per $100 exported from 2011–2015.

Despite the AGOA program, the US market represents less than $1 per $100 of Malian global exports, except the period 2006–2010. Nor were Ethiopia’s exports to the US improved by AGOA ratification.

The average share of the US market in Ethiopian exports fell from $6.74 for every $100 exported (period before AGOA) to $4.33 (during 2001–2005), then to $6.31 (during 2006–2010) before falling to $6.13 over the period 2011–2015.

The figures show that, without taking into consideration likely deterioration of their diplomatic relations with the US, the suspension decision will have very little bearing on global export revenues of the suspended countries.

Zakaria Sorgho, Research Associate in International Trade Policy, Université Laval

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Keeping the Global South safe and secure: South Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Keeping key maritime trade routes safe is critical to ensuring economic development and prosperity of the Global South. The first steering committee of a programme to support safe navigation and security in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans was held on 19-20 January, with participation online and in-person. This was reported by the IMO media service on 24 January.

This meeting provided participants with assistance to strengthen their strategic directions. The steering committee agreed on monitoring tools to assess the overall performance of the programme including the financial side, communications and reporting methods. The event also looked at a range of issues including port security legislation, data exchange system on cargo and passengers and response capacities of law enforcement agencies in the region.

The Programme on Port Security and Safety of Navigation* in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region is sponsored by the European Union, under the overall strategic direction of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). The project is being implemented by IMO, jointly with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Officials from nine beneficiary countries** attended the meeting, along with representatives from international organizations and the implementing partners: IMO, INTERPOL and UNODC.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

*For more information readers are invited to see the IMO website here: https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Security/Pages/Port-Security-Project.aspx

**Angola, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles and United Republic of Tanzania.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Terminal 3: Port of Tema signs contract for another 15 ship-handling cranes

With berth occupancy running in the range of 90% on the three operational berths and the civil works on berth number 4 completed in October 2021, the time has come for Meridian Port Services (MPS) to increase the equipment necessary for the port’s terminal 3 to maximise its handling capacity.

MPS this week signed a US$ 53.31 million purchase agreement with Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) to supply 3 additional Ship-to-Shore (STS) gantry cranes and 12 eRTGs (electrified Rubber Tyre Gantries) that will go into service at Terminal 3.

The terminal currently has 11 STS cranes and 2 mobile harbour cranes in service. These are backed by 29 eRTGs, several reach stackers and empty handlers.

The terminal has become the first port of call for several liner services in West Africa due to Tema’s improved handling capacity and clearly MPS is anticipating further growth in container volumes. On delivery of the new order the port will have 14 STS and 41 eRTGs servicing the the four berths.

Prior to making the purchase, the management of MPS presented the Board of Directors with a simulated volume scenario ahead of the investment proposal. In addition the terminal will undergo an upgrade of the power plant from 12 MVA to between 18 to 24 MVA.

Project Background and Rationale

Meridian Port Services Ltd (MPS) is a joint venture company between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), APM Terminals and Bolloré Transport & Logistics. MPS operates the largest container terminal in Ghana if not the largest in the region. The Tema Port Expansion Project was built in line with the vision of GPHA to become the Gateway and a Hub Port within the West African Sub Region.

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Meridian Port Services Ltd had a successful partnership in the development and implementation of Terminal 2 within the existing Tema Port facility and as the need arose to increase capacity to handle larger vessels, MPS and GPHA embarked again on developing and transforming the Port of Tema into a Hub Port.

The new MPS Terminal 3 has increased the container handling capacity and capabilities along with the investment in cutting edge equipment, technology and digitalisation where it is widely recognised as a world-class actor in the port industry.

The container receipt & delivery at Tema Port is currently running 24/7 throughout the year (except on Good Friday and Christmas days). The digitalisation of processes at the Port (in line with the government’s call for a Paperless Port System) has been completed and there is a seamless flow of transactions online.

This was after the Ministry of Trade and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority spearheaded the implementation of the ICUMS platform with dedicated support from MPS who brought shipping lines, terminals and the authorities including GPHA together to implement a rigorous process at Terminal 3. This was to ensure that the revenues and security of the Port of Tema are well protected.

The investment in waterfront and yard cranes, standby electricity generating plants, scanners and training of personnel has given Tema Port especially Terminal 3 the capacity to receive larger vessels and provide high service levels for the shipping lines to decrease turnaround times for them thereby decreasing their cost of doing business and facilitating trade.

The efforts put in so far with the support of the Customs Division of GRA and the Ministry of Trade & Industry have created opportunities for a more integrated trade economy in Africa and in effect solidify Ghana’s contribution to the continent’s role in the global logistics chain.

Strategic Considerations

Having completed the first phase of the Tema Port Expansion Project, Terminal 3 is taking the lead by having a better capacity to serve the shipping lines who see efficiency as key in the choice of ports of call and MPS has become a 1st port of call for many of the major shipping lines in the world.

Being the 1st port of call with improved handling capacity and a comparative advantage with the world-renowned transhipment hubs; MPS Terminal 3 has put Ghana on the map in the maritime sector thus making a strong case for recognition as the hub of West Africa.

As a result of increased capacity there is no congestion at Terminal 3 whilst there is significant queuing in other ports in West Africa, so the shipping lines are keen on negotiations with MPS to set targets on service levels to enable them use MPS as a hub within the sub-region. Other ports in the West African sub-region are also keenly developing their capacity, so time is of the essence in ensuring that negotiations and contracts are concluded to attract the trade to Ghana on time. MPS has started with some shipping lines on a trial basis whilst others are still waiting to see that there is an established regime to protect the transshipment trade, and this is very key.

With such enhanced marine infrastructure capacity, Ghana has been positioned to compete with other countries within the Sub-Region to attract trade and investments into Ghana. Being one of the strongest emerging economies in West Africa (2nd largest) with a sturdy growth rate and burgeoning youthful population, many industrial companies have taken advantage and started to set up shop in Ghana to prepare for their penetration into the wider African market. The emerging Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is bound to be a game changer for the model maritime nation.

From the onset the management and directors of MPS embarked on marketing Terminal 3’s efficiency and positioned the terminal as the emerging transshipment hub on the western coast of Africa and the figures are promising.

Commercial Considerations

Shipping Lines have traditionally provided transshipment entirely on an ad-hoc basis in Ghana and have not harnessed the opportunity for Ghana’s trade connectivity. However, MPS has created considerable transshipment capacity to the lines at Terminal 3 and the situation is changing but there is a lot more to be done. MPS now schedules to continue transshipment with several shipping lines during 2022 (and beyond) following the successful trials to transship traffic from the Far-East to South America switching services/vessels at MPS Terminal 3.

Almost all the Liner direct services (from the Far East, Middle East, Mediterranean and North Europe) into Tema Port’s Terminal 3 are transshipping some of the West African traffic at MPS T3 destined to Benin, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, as well as transshipping refrigerated fruit containers from Cape Town between South Africa and Europe and the cross-Atlantic Trade with South America/Brazil.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: LR1 Panamax tanker – GULF HORIZON

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

Considering that the port of Antwerp, in Belgium, has the largest integrated petrochemical cluster in Europe, it is quite surprising that in this day and age, where South Africa is scrabbling to get fuel supplies from all over the world, because it can no longer provide internal refined products for itself, that there are not more tankers arriving at South African ports from that very port than there currently are. Until today, Antwerp tanker arrivals, over the last year, could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

On 20th January at 15h00 the LR1 Panamax tanker GULF HORIZON (IMO 9297412) arrived off Cape Town, from Antwerp, and immediately entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded to the long tanker berth in the Duncan Dock, to start discharging its cargo of refined fuel products for the Mother City.

Built in 2005 by Hyundai Heavy Industries at Ulsan in South Korea, ‘Gulf Horizon’ is 228 metres in length and has a deadweight of 74,999 tons. She is powered by a single HHI MAN-B&W 6S60MC-C7 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine, producing 18,168 bhp (13,548 kW) to drive a fixed pitch propeller to give her a service speed of 15 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three MAN-B&W 6L23/30H generators providing 800 kW each, and an emergency generator providing 120 kW. She has one Alfa Laval AV6 exhaust gas boiler, and one Alfa Laval Mission OL oil fired boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks, and a cargo carrying capacity of 82,100 m3.

She is nominally owned by Gulf Horizon Shipping Ltd, and she is both operated and managed by Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM) PJSC, all located at the same address in Dubai. GEM are a joint venture company consisting of three state owned enterprises, namely the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) of Dubai in the UAE, the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and the Oman Oil Company of Muscat in Oman.

One of four sisterships built for her owners, out of a class of 14 tankers built at the time by Hyundai for three separate owners, this is her first visit to a South African port in almost a year. Her previous African voyage was to Lagos in Nigeria. As a tanker that has recently frequented the Gulf of Oman, and the Gulf of Guinea, which are both areas of potential Piracy attacks, ‘Gulf Horizon’ still displays the mannequin ‘lookouts’ who stand watch at various points around the vessel accommodation block.

Her port of departure, Antwerp, as already mentioned, is the largest petrochemical complex in Europe. It includes two huge refineries, one operated by the French oil company Total, and one operated by the American oil company ExxonMobil.

The Total refinery is their largest integrated complex in Europe, and is capable of refining 338,000 barrels of oil per day. In 2017, Total completed a €1 billion (ZAR17.27 billion) upgrade to their refinery for the increased production of polymers, with a capacity of 1.1 million tons of ethylene.

Since 2008, the ExxonMobil refinery has had €1.77 billion (ZAR30.55 billion) spent on upgrades, which includes €1 billion (ZAR17.27 billion) spent in 2019 on a single unit. This was a Delayed Coker Unit (DCU), which converts residual oils into transport fields such as Diesel and Marine Gas Oil.

Antwerp also has two extensive fuel storage complexes, which between them can store almost 2 million m3 of fuel products. The Gunvor Complex is capable of storing 982,000 m3, and the ATPC Complex can store 975,000 m3.

The owners of the ATPC complex also own the Burgan Cape Terminal (BCT) oil storage facility, located in Cape Town harbour, adjacent to the tanker berths, and capable of storing 122,000 m3 of fuel products.

A comparison of size between the ATPC complex in Antwerp, and the BCT complex in Cape Town is that ATPC has 114 tanks for storage, whereas BCT is limited to just 12 storage tanks.

To gain an insight as to how big the largest European integrated petrochemical and industrial cluster is, a simple Google Earth view of the port of Antwerp will show the viewer just how many storage tanks there are within the port complex. These are tanks for crude oil, refined products, petrochemical products, chemical products, agricultural products and other liquids. It comes to in excess of 2,000 tanks within the port complex. Try counting them!

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

MSC Orchestra on her way to Marion Island

With the resumption of cruising in South African waters earlier in January, the resident cruise ship MSC ORCHESTRA has undertaken a cruise from Durban to Cape Town and from the Mother City to several destinations: to Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth on the south coast, and to Walvis Bay and Lüderitz on the west.

On Monday 24 January the ship was due to return via a five-day cruise back to Durban but has instead on hugging the coast, has instead departed to an unusual destination, the remote Prince Edward Islands including Marion Island.

The Prince Edward group of islands, South Africa’s only sovereign dependency, lies 955 nautical miles south-east of Port Elizabeth in the Southern Indian Ocean, at a low latitude of 46 degrees. The larger of the two islands is Marion Island, on which South African maintains a meteorological and biological research station run by the South African National Antarctic Programme, which is manned all year round.

Marion Island is named after French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne – ship watchers from South Africa and elsewhere will recall the lovely French research ship named MARION DU FRESNE which is based at La Reunion for much of the year and which is a regular visitor to South African ports.

The visit to the island, or rather the vicinity of the two islands, as passengers will not be able to land, is to enable a group of international and local bird watchers to visit a remote and otherwise generally inaccessible place to see arctic and sub-arctic type birds not much found further north.

The ship’s route takes it to the islands and from there Orchestra returns directly to Durban on Monday 31 January after which MSC Orchestra will resume her scheduled cruises from Durban to the Mozambique destinations, Portuguese Island, the port and city of Maputo, and Pomene – the latter being MSC Cruises’ own resort on an isolated part of the Mozambique coast.

MSC Orchestra’s departure from Cape Town was not without incident and some excitement for some of the passengers. The ship had returned from the west coast and was scheduled to sail on Monday 24 January at 18h00. It appears that a gale force south-easter wind was expected during the day, and rather than take the chance of the port being suddenly closed to shipping, the MSC Cruises’ people took the decision to sail early, about 5.5 hours ahead of schedule.

The problem with that was that some passengers, arriving from distant places (we believe that some people flew to Cape Town from the UK or elsewhere) had not yet arrived at the Cape Town cruise terminal and literally missed the boat.

It was all well taken care of however, with MSC Orchestra going to anchor outside in Table Bay around the corner opposite Bantry Bay while sending two of their ferry type vessels, normally used for carrying passengers ashore at Pomene and Portuguese Island, to the Alfred Basin to await the arrival of the balance of passengers, and to carry them and the luggage to the ship outside the harbour.

This was carried out without drama, although the NSRI was standing by with one of their rescue craft ‘just in case’ and once everyone was on board and settled down, MSC Orchestra set off on time at 18h00 on her adventure cruise with a difference.

– trh

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

IN CONVERSATION: Somaliland’s quest for recognition: UK debate offers hint of a sea change

Somaliland’s newfound strategic importance has been both a gift and a curse

Matthew Gordon, SOAS, University of London

While the rest of the Horn of Africa region is making waves on the battlefield, the tiny, self-declared republic of Somaliland has been having its presence felt where representative democracy and open debate lurk.

In the halls of the UK Parliament, where, on the 18th of January, around two dozen British MPs convened to discuss the recognition of Somaliland’s independence.

The surprisingly large turnout and display of cross-party consensus (a rarity) gave the proceedings an air of hope, the slight rumblings of a sea change. This was despite the fact that the government representative’s concluded by insisting on stubbornly maintaining the status quo.

For the UK – and the West more generally – this has involved treating Somaliland as a region of wider Somalia. This is despite its practical self-governance and ambitions for independence.

At the same time the West has chosen to leave it up to Somalia and its African neighbours to lead a change of course, if they so choose.

Over the past three decades Somaliland has accumulated achievements in maintaining peace and holding elections. These developments have earned it special attention and praise from foreign governments and policymakers. But they have not won it diplomatic recognition.

There are signs, however, that the country’s fortunes are changing. This is partly due to the West losing allies in Horn of Africa region to China. At the same time Somaliland is establishing itself as a hub of regional trade following a deal with DP World to redevelop its Berbera port.

These developments seem to have paid off in the form of increased international attention. Evidence of this is in the recent uptick of open engagement from US political actors towards Somaliland. This has included a visit from the first-ever staff congressional delegation to the territory last month.

The fact-finding mission was itself the direct result of lobbying of Congress members and think tanks by Somaliland’s foreign minister in Washington. Somaliland’s president, Muse Bihi, is scheduled to make his own trip sometime soon.

In one sense, this recent flurry of developments is just the world catching up to the reality of Somaliland. Listening to the speeches from parliamentarians, it is clear that the moral, legal, political and economic justifications for Somaliland’s recognition have seeped into the bloodstream of political discourse.

This is itself the result of the tireless campaigning of diaspora activists over three decades. Since the 1990s they have drilled their local representatives on the talking points and encouraged them to take a stand on the issue.

Some have gone on to join the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Somaliland, or visited the capital Hargeisa. Gavin Williamson MP, the organiser of the debate, paid a visit during his time as Defence Secretary.

But Somaliland’s newfound strategic importance has been both a gift and a curse. It has boosted international interest, investment and support for the country. But only on condition of gifting out its land, diplomatic manoeuvrability and, frankly, some of its soul.

Somaliland emerged as a viable and legitimate government by translating inter-communal reconciliation into a horizontal social contract of peaceful coexistence between relative equals.

As this social contract was built into a state, international recognition was seen as the culmination of these efforts. It would affix an external stamp of legitimacy. It would also help secure its inviolability in the face of continued threat from Somalia, which rejects Somaliland’s independence claims.

Pitfalls of realpolitik

The tricky nature of Somaliland’s more realpolitik approach to seeking recognition was apparent during President Bihi’s trip to Addis Ababa, which unintentionally coincided with the events in London.

The underlying objective of discussions between these neighbouring heads of state were not made public. But there is credible suspicion that it involves renewed intent on the part of Ethiopia to lease land on Somaliland’s Zeila coast, from which to establish a naval outpost.

The Tigray war has exacerbated Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ambition for more diverse outlets to the sea. So far the Somaliland government has reportedly been cautious, out of understandable concerns ofgetting caught up in regional rivalries. Domestic constituencies have also long been wary of Ethiopian imperialism.

This geopolitical messiness feels far removed from the clear picture painted of Somaliland’s potential as a preferential British ally among members of UK parliament.

For instance, several mentions of Somaliland as a diplomatic vacuum that the UK must step into before rivals such as China does seems far-fetched. Firstly, the geopolitical field in the region is already so crowded. Secondly, the UK is not set up to compete with heavyweights like China. Financially or geopolitically.

It should be remembered that the UK’s lack of influence in Somali affairs is not a result of taking their eyes off the ball. It has in fact been actively muscled out, first by Turkey and then by any number of more active players, specifically from the Gulf.

Limits to what can be achieved

When it comes to what Somaliland can expect from Britain, there are limits to what can be achieved. The UK’s leadership, as an ill-fitting mix of populists and ideologues, offers little of the visionary thinking that would be required to lead a change of the status quo in the Horn.

Up to now, the UK has engaged with the region primarily through security training and cooperation, and on developmental and humanitarian support. But even the development aid is at risk due to cuts to the aid budget..

As the UN Security Council penholder on Somalia, it conceivably take the lead in coordinating wider political initiatives. But on the ground it is money and investment from the Middle East that holds sway.

Somaliland is pitching to the grand strategic visions of Western countries and the way it fits into them. The reality, however, is that decision-making in the UK – and even the US – seems more and more beset by short-termism and deadlock.

At a strategic call organised by intellectual Dr. Jama Musse Jama after the event in parliament, Somalilanders from home and abroad highlighted well the absurdities of UK foreign policy on the issue.

The UK’s claim that its current stance in favour of union is sensible merely by virtue of being ‘consistent’ is the kind of tautological nonsense that betrays a deeper political rudderlessness.

It rewards a Federal Government in Somalia whose unearned legitimacy has enabled its intransigent pursuit of elite plunder and fecklessness, while punishing those who built democracy, peace and liberty for themselves.

More criminal is its pawning off responsibility for the resolution of Somaliland’s status to dialogue between it and Somalia. In the eyes of many Somalilanders the UK is forcing victims of genocide to plead for freedom at the feet of their former captors and torturers.

It’s position of letting African governments lead in recognising Somaliland is equally indefensible. It may be driven by an impulse to divest Britain of any perceived colonial pretensions, but it does not come across as empowering. Rather it’s viewed as a timid abdication of responsibility from a government ready to play the part of global leader and former benevolent empire when it suits it.

In the short term, however, Somalilanders, from Twitter to the benches of local parliament to the streets of Hargeisa, are celebrating this latest diplomatic achievement, and placing faith in the good graces of the UK to deliver recognition once and for all.

At the same time, they are using the win to mobilise among themselves for the next sets of campaigning and activism that has become the staple of their long and unflappable journey in the quest for recognition.

Matthew Gordon, PhD Candidate, Politics & International Studies, SOAS, University of London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Record cargo at the Port of Felixstowe

In mid-January Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe [a port where several shipping companies engaged on the South Africa-Northern Europe services make scheduled calls] reported that it had handled what is believed to be the largest number of containers ever on a single ship in Europe.

The port stated that a total of 23,773 TEU were handled on the 24,000 TEU MSC Diletta which completed operations and sailed from the port on 12 January.

Commenting on the record the following day, Robert Ashton, Operations Director at the Port of Felixstowe, said: “The size of container ships has been increasing for many years and with growing demand for services into the Port of Felixstowe we are seeing ever greater container exchanges.

“We are also seeing a trend to consolidate cargo on fewer ultra-large ships. The MSC Diletta is operated on the 2M Alliance Griffin/AE55 Far East Asia to North Europe service. We are very pleased with the performance on this call and to have been able to work with the 2M partners to help achieve their objectives to supply the current high demand for Far East imports to UK consumers.”

The 2M Alliance consists of Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s two largest shipping lines.

Increasing the channel depth

Work is underway to further increase the port’s ability to handle the world’s largest container ships. Harwich Haven Authority is dredging the main approach channel to increase the depth from 14.5 metres to 16.0 metres.

Work commenced last year and is due to be completed in 2023. The port is also increasing the depth at its deep-water berths. Berth 7 was deepened to 16.5 metres in 2021and Berth 6 will also be dredged to 16.5 metres in 2022 at the same time as Berths 8&9 are increased to 18.0 metres.

About Port of Felixstowe

Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe is strategically located on the UK’s South East coast and within easy reach of major ports in North West continental Europe.

As the UK’s first purpose-built container-handling facility, it is also the largest and busiest container port in the country. With three rail terminals, it also has the busiest and biggest intermodal rail freight facility in the UK. The latest phase of development, Berths 8&9, provides additional deep-water capacity for the world’s largest container ships.

Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe is a member of Hutchison Ports, the port and related services division of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. Hutchison Ports is said to be the world’s leading port investor, developer and operator with a network of port operations in 52 ports spanning 26 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia.

Over the years, Hutchison Ports has expanded into other logistics and transportation-related businesses, including cruise ship terminals, distribution centres, rail services and ship repair facilities.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 26 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

DoT Minister Mbalula unveils investments to support Operation Phakisa

The following report was released by SAnews.gov.za following the visit in the Port of Durban on Monday of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula:

Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has unveiled critical investments that will contribute towards advancing South Africa’s economic interests through Operation Phakisa.

Amongst others, these investments include the construction of an onshore Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) regasification facility, liquid bulk operating license to develop and operate a liquid bulk terminal and access rights for the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

“These ground-breaking investments will also give impetus to growing the oceans economy and the implementation of the Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy, which seeks to create a nurturing environment for entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses,” the Minister said.

Addressing the media on Monday during his visit to the Port of Durban, he said the investments represent the sector’s contribution to the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

“To date, working closely with Minister of Public Enterprises and the Transnet National Ports Authority, we have given a green light in respect of a number of investments in the Ports, which will deliver tangible economic dividends and place South Africa on a sustainable growth path.

“The Strategic Fuel Fund will construct an onshore Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) regasification facility at the Port of Ngqura. This investment is of national importance as it responds to energy policy and energy security of the country. The total project value is estimated at US$1.5 billion,” the Minister said.

Mnambithi Terminals will also develop and operate a liquid bulk terminal at the Maydon Wharf 6 in the Port of Durban.

The investment is aimed at contributing towards sustainable job creation during the construction and operation phases of the project.

“The construction phase will create over 1,500 temporary direct and other indirect job opportunities. The operation phase will create over 150 skilled and semi-skilled employment opportunities.

“This investment will significantly contribute to infrastructure development. The total construction investment is R1.5 billion. The US$ 26 million maritime vessel that is part of this investment, is the first chemical tanker to be acquired by a South African company and will soon be flagged locally,” Mbalula said. [Grindrod might be surprised to hear this – AP&S]

Hillside Aluminium Proprietary Limited will renew existing leases in the Port of Richards Bay for Bulk Storage Silos Facility, Pitch Tanks Terminal, Stock Yard Facility and Conveyor Belt System Effluent Pipeline Facility.

“Hillside stands at the apex of South Africa’s aluminium industry and is therefore, one of the major contributors to the country’s economy. Their investment further supports the competitive existence of a downstream aluminium industry directly employing approximately 11,600 people permanently, whilst contributing to the indirect formal employment of 28,500 people,” the Minister said.

The direct contributions include revenue to Transnet and the municipality of Richards Bay of R338 million per annum, local procurement spend of R2 billion per annum, and contribution to the tax base of R1.1 billion per annum.

“Dormac Marine Engineering will also renew existing leases, which will generate rental income for Transnet and eThekwini Municipality, currently standing at R17.5 million per annum.

“Durban Premises and Port premises in Cape Town, currently leased from Transnet at full commercial rentals, currently generate R20.6 million per annum for Transnet. Dormac employs 136 employees and this investment will preserve these,” the Minister said.

The Minister affirmed government’s commitment to accelerating interventions geared towards enabling small businesses and medium enterprises participation in the transportation of commodities as part of promoting the development and growth of South Africa’s Ship Registry.

“Plans to make our ship registry attractive and worthwhile for owners to flag ships in South Africa must be given impetus, and using this opportunity to expand our seafarer base.

“The private sector participation in the sector should, amongst others, provide a multiplier effect to skills development, and broadening access to learning by those previously disadvantaged,” the Minister said.

He emphasised the importance of transforming the maritime sector by creating a nurturing environment for entrepreneurs with skills in the composite industry to develop and grow their own businesses.

“The port infrastructure projects should boost the local content with increasing local supply chains and locally manufactured components are critical to the growth of the maritime sector,” the Minister said.

He called on the private sector to participate in the broader agenda of developing and improving port operations.

“Addressing the long-standing issue of High Cube containers, the Department is committed to prioritise addressing this burning issue by developing legislation that will give these the same status as double-decker buses and car carriers,” the Minister said.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Cyclone Ana goes ashore in Mozambique, flood warnings sound

Tropical Cyclone Ana which formed over Madagascar and then the Mozambique Channel on Sunday, 23 January 2022, made landfall as expected over the Mozambique coast early on Monday morning with maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h (53 mph). Ana is the first named storm of the 2022 Southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season.

Mozambican reports by the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD) on Tuesday 25 January indicate at least two people have died as a result of the storm and 49 people have been injured, arising from the storm and its effects.

It said that a mother and her daughter were swept away by the rising waters of the river Licungo n Mocuba, Zambezia province where torrential rain has been falling since Sunday. At least 34 houses are reported destroyed and there may be many more.

Roads are under water and at least two bridges were swept away between Mocuba and Lugela, authorities said.

Marine traffic (involving small boats and craft) have been advised not to venture out in Zambezia province which includes the port town/city of Quelimane.

Weather reports say that as the centre of the storm moves inland, very heavy rain will continue to fall in its aftermath.

“Strong winds will continue to blow during the night and tomorrow morning [Tuesday] on the Mozambican coast between Angoche and the city of Beira,” reported France’s weather centre on Réunion island, which specialises in monitoring storms.

“The heavy rains, which are likely to cause flash floods, landslides and flooding, are moving inland and will affect Mozambique and southern Malawi in the next 24 hours, then move on to northern Zimbabwe and southern Zambia from Wednesday.”

Offshore waves of around 5 and 6 metres are reported with winds gusting to 40 knots immediately offshore of the Zambezia coastline.

The latest INGD report states that in the current (summer) storm season, not counting the impact of storm Ana, at least 14 people have died and another 53,269 have been affected by natural disasters.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Cape Town Council concerned over delays at Cape Town port

Cape Town’s Member for Economic Growth on the Mayoral Committee (MAYCO), James Vos, has described recent media reports of backlogs at the Port of Cape Town as “deeply troubling”.

Alderman Vos said in a statement that ports are key drivers of business and urban development particularly in cities such as Cape Town, which he said is a major entry point into South Africa and the continent.

“I have engaged with Transnet leadership to express, on behalf of the City of Cape Town and businesses within the metro, the urgency of this matter. Not only will the delays place further pressure on economic re-growth in the province and country as the Western Cape’s export market is affected, but South Africans will likely end up paying for the higher logistical costs.”

He said he has raised concerns about Transnet’s bid to hike tariffs by up to 24% in the next financial year. “South African ports are already some of the most expensive in the world, should it be hiked further, we will be punishing our exporters – and the economy – even more, while increasing the appeal of less expensive competitors.

“I am equally aware of the complexities involved in operating the port and have had numerous engagements over the past few months with the freight forwarding association, the Exporters’ club and industries whose businesses have been affected by the challenges at the Cape Town facility.”

Vos said that because of these pressing challenges, ranging from excessively high winds and Covid absenteeism of highly trained staff, h will be meeting with other concerned role-players in the City government in the coming days to determine their various positions and plans in the hope that they can play a constructive role in helping the port address these issues.

“Even though the City does not have the levers or powers to solve most of these problems, we are determined to play whatever role we can in finding innovative solutions with various partners. My officials and I are also engaging with my counterparts in the provincial government and in other key structures to discuss these recommendations and lobby efforts.”

He described the announcement of the corporatisation of Transnet in 2021 as a welcome development that has been accompanied by a noticeable willingness to engage with local partners to improve operations, “a move which we as a City welcome and will reciprocate.

“As the local government in which the port is located, we remain committed to building this relationship further. In many other metros around the world, the City government has major ownership and operational stake in the port, given its importance to the local economy. As such, we would therefore be open to exploring with Transnet ways in which we can gain a meaningful stake in the facility that will help us drive the innovative change necessary to turn this strategic asset into the economic driver for the local economy that it can – and needs to – be.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: successful Supramax bulker – MAGNUM ENERGY

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

Even in this day and age, where most Chinese shipyards, all under the strict control of their ever watchful government, seem to be continuing to grow, there are still some shipyards that simply don’t cut the mustard. One of them was unusual, in that it was a private company, rather than a direct state owned enterprise, as most shipyards are. What is even more surprising is this one had produced a class of vessel that was not only highly successful, but was so popular that it is still being built today by its government owned successor.

On 17th January at 11h00 the Supramax bulk carrier MAGNUM ENERGY (IMO 9488982) arrived off Cape Town from Durban and immediately entered Cape Town harbour and went to C berth in the Duncan Dock to finish off her cargo discharge on the South African coast.

Built in 2009 by Dayang Shipbuilding at Yangzhou in China, ‘Magnum Energy’ is 190 metres in length and has a deadweight of 53,628 tons. She is powered by a single Doosan MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C7 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine, producing 12,890 bhp (9,480 kW) to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Daihatsu 6DK(M)-20(e) generators providing 720 kW each, and a Cummins 6CT-8.3-D(M) emergency generator providing 140 kW. She has a single Alfa Laval Mission QC composite boiler.

She has five holds with a cargo carrying capacity of 65,751 m3, and her holds are served by four, grab equipped, 30 ton electro-hydraulic cranes. She is obviously a well worked vessel, as she is looking very tatty around the edges, and in need of a good scrape and paint.

Her builders produced their own proprietary in-house design of five classes of bulk carrier, of which ‘Magnum Energy’ is one of their successful ‘Crown 53’ design. The shipyard was part of the Shanghai based Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group, which went bankrupt in July 2017 resulting in the closure of three shipyards.

In 2018 the Dayang shipyard was taken over by SUMEC, the Nanjing based subsidiary of the state controlled China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH). The yard, now known as New Dayang Shipbuilding, has continued with the building of the Crown series of bulk carriers, and have now completed over 150 of the various classes.

Nominally owned by Medal Shipping SA of Athens, ‘Magnum Energy’ is both operated and managed by F Maritime SA, all of whom are located at the same address in Athens. For those who can identify the letters of the Greek alphabet, both the owners funnel colours and houseflag mirror the operating and management company name, as it is the Greek letter Φ, which represents Phi, the equivalent of the letter F in the English alphabet.

One of three ‘Crown 53’ sisterships built for the same operator, ‘Magnum Energy’ had brought her cargo to South Africa from Shanghai in China. The vast majority of the cargo was discharged in Durban, where she had been alongside for over eleven days. Her time discharging the final parcel in Cape Town was short, as she was alongside for less than 24 hours. On 18th January at 09h00, ‘Magnum Energy’ sailed from Cape Town, bound for the port of Imbituba in Brazil.

The port of Imbituba has an interesting history, until 2012 it was the last major Brazilian port that was fully privately owned. It is located in Santa Catarina State, at 29° 14’ South 048° 39 West, some 290 nautical miles southwest of Santos. The port was built by the British back in 1880, to enable the export of coal from the nearby Shark River coalfields.

Imbituba has only four deepwater berths, limited to vessels of a maximum length of 200 metres, and it specialises in bulk cargoes. Bulk cargoes exported from the port, one of which is destined for loading into ‘Magnum Energy’, when she arrives at the port on 31st January, includes coal, iron ore, sugar, canola, grain, soybeans, rice and salt.

The actual town of Imbituba has one sporting claim to fame, and one that attracts the best South African surfers in increasing number. It is that it is one of the location venues for the championship legs on the World Surf League Tour.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Tanzania and Burundi agree on rail connection to Dar es Salaam

The governments of Tanzania and Burundi have signed an agreement that will lead to a 282km long railway extension from the planned Dar es Salaam to Kigoma standard gauge railway (SGR) that is currently under construction from the Indian Ocean port.

The agreement for the US$900 million spur from the main line will run from from the small town of Uvinza in Kigoma region to Burundi’s capital city of Gitega in the centre of the landlocked country.

The 156kms of railway track from Uvinza to Malagarasi near the border between the two countries, will be built by Tanzania, while the 126km section from Malagarasi (the border) to Musongati and Gitega is the responsibility of Burundi.

The documents were signed by Tanzania’s finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba and his Burundian counterpart Makame Mbarawa. The Burundian finance minister described the project as important not only for Tanzania and Burundi, but for the Eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC). He said Burundi and Tanzania will work together to source the necessary funding.

Tanzania has already reached agreements with Burundi’s immediate neighbour, Rwanda, as well as with Uganda for the SGR to extend to those countries. The railway to neighbouring states will provide important traffic for the port at Dar es Salaam.

It was said during the signing ceremony that the line into Burundi would generate 1 million tonnes of general freight and 3 million tonnes of minerals annually.

The SGR currently under construction will extend at Mwanza on the southern shore of Lake Victoria and another section to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. Anpther section will skirt the western side of the lake in the direction of Rwanda and Uganda.

The SGR is being built in five stages with the work being carried out by Yapi Merkezi of Turkey, Mota-Engil of Portugal, China Civil Engineering Construction and China Railway Construction. The various stages are not being constructed concurrently. Funding has been made available via state funds and loans that include the export banks of Turkey and China, the governments of Denmark and Sweden, the World Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

EU Navies to continue with Gulf of Guinea patrols

Following a review of the Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP) pilot programme, the European Union (EU) has decided to continue with the deployment of EU naval ships in the Gulf of Guinea, in order to assist with preventing acts of piracy and other illegal acts.

In terms of the CMP, EU states have deployed ships to the West African coast for the past two years, during which they have carried out patrols mostly in international waters and in coordination with local authorities.

Now the EU has proposed a two-year extension of the CMP mandate commencing January this year and has provided details of the deployments of Danish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish warships into the region.

A Danish naval ship will patrol the waters of the Gulf of Guinea for four months, Spain for seven and a half months, France for eleven months, Italy for eight months and Portugal for three and a half months. This will ensure a continuous EU presence of at least one ship in the Gulf of Guinea throughout the two years.

According to an EU External Action Service memo, the Gulf of Guinea continues to be particularly dangerous for seafarers. It states that none of the coastal West African navies, with the possible exception of Nigeria, are able to operate the required high-sea patrol boats to respond to attacks.

The memo said that responding to the threats on the high seas is not always a possibility or a priority for most of the West African navies.

The memo suggested that the decrease in the incidents of piracy and armed robbery in 2021 might be a result of international naval forces being in the area.

“This result could be assessed as a consequence, on the one hand, of the efforts made by regional navies and security agencies and, on the other hand, the increased and permanent presence of international assets in the area,” the memo suggested.

The establishment of the CMP in 2019 and its implementation in 2020, is a response to urgent requests by European shipping interests. As a result the first deployment of a EU force saw five European navies deploying to the area.

The EU now believes the continued presence of naval assets in the Gulf of Guinea region has shown that it can be effective, hence its continuation for another two years.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

IN CONVERSATION: Nanosatellite launch is a big step forward for African space science

Nyameko Royi, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

South African space science had a big day on 13 January 2022. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology, based in Cape Town, launched its third satellite mission into space from the Cape Canaveral rocket launch site in Florida in the US.

The nanosatellite constellation – consisting of three satellites – is called MDASat (Marine Domain Awareness). A nanosatellite is smaller than standard satellites, weighing between 1kg and 10kg; it’s an affordable, functional option. The mean mass of each of our satellites is 2.1kg.

MDASat is designed to collect data that will enhance the security and protection of South African marine resources. The constellation will detect, monitor and identify foreign vessels within the country’s exclusive economic zone. This could help track illegal dumping and fishing.

Our hope, as the team that developed and designed the constellation – I am the acting chief engineer on the project – is that MDASat will enhance the country’s ocean sovereignty and protect our marine resources.

This mission follows on from the successful development, launch and operation of two other nanosatellites: ZACUBE-1, known as TshepisoSat, and ZACUBE-2’s.

It’s an exciting moment not just for the institution and for South Africa, but for the African continent more broadly: this is the first constellation of satellites developed and designed in Africa. Other African countries, among them Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Ghana, have sent satellites into space. But these were not developed and designed on the continent; they involved partnerships with non-African nations or companies.

This is important because the more countries and scientists are involved in space the better: this provides better collaborations and presents new technical techniques to process information. Different data can be used for all sorts of purposes, like tracking space weather and monitoring natural and marine resources.

MDASat’s role

The January 13 launch sent three satellites of the MDA constellation (we hope to launch nine in total as part of this constellation) into space. MDASat-1 will use Automatic Identification System data to monitor ships’ movements within South Africa’s exclusive economic zone. Automatic Identification System is a radio system used for the tracking of maritime traffic. The location messages received by the satellites from ships in the ocean beneath is downloaded daily from the satellite when it passes over the ground station at the university’s Bellville, Cape Town campus.

The satellites can do a number of things. For instance, they can receive over the air upgrades, meaning software can be developed and uploaded to the orbiting satellite when ready. They can also collect raw data, enhancing the opportunity for diagnostic testing on signal interference and decoding messages. This information allows us to track the satellites’ health status – if they experience software bugs or electronic malfunctions we can study that information, then apply fixes or backup manoeuvres.

MDASat also has an enhanced data interface. This means it uses the entire available bandwidth so it’s operating optimally and can put through maximum data.

These enhancements pave the way for the future MDASat-2’s development and launch. They also minimise the risk of damage to the current payload from space weather conditions.

Each satellite will initially pass the ground station an average of four times a day, but that will steadily increase. The satellites will drift apart over time and, as they eventually spread further apart, we will have an average of 12 passes per day. We expect an average of 1883k bytes of data to be generated per pass per satellite.

At the same time we are also still tracking the previously launched ZACUBE-2. It is also tracking ships, as well as forest and vegetation fires. Since its launch in 2018, ZACube-2 has provided cutting-edge very high frequency data exchange communication systems to the country’s maritime industry, as a contribution to Operation Phakisa. This government initiative aims to fast track several priority projects.

Another African connection

Space engineering projects started at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2008. Today these are coordinated by the institution’s African Space Innovation Centre.

We work from laboratories near the institution’s Bellville campus. Our satellites are built to last and to stay the course: they undergo a rigorous flight acceptance review that confirms not only that they’re fit to go into space but that they’ll work once they get there. The review includes environmental testing to ensure mechanical shocks don’t obliterate satellite and thermal testing to ensure they can operate within designated temperature ranges.

There was another South African element to the 13 January launch: MDASat was launched by SpaceX, the company founded by SA-born entrepreneur Elon Musk. SpaceX provides affordable ride share options into space and MDASat was just one project launched aboard the aerospace company’s Falcon 9 rocket on this occasion. The rocket carried a total of 105 spacecraft which will all gather data for different entities.

This project represents a big step towards autonomy of South Africa’s precious natural resources: data from and about the country, for its own use.

Nyameko Royi, Acting Chief Engineer, MDASat constellation project, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 25 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Tropical Cyclone ANA reaches Mozambique coast

The tropical system that brought heavy rain to Northern Madagascar the past 24-hours reached the Mozambican coast during Monday 24 January having been reclassified as Tropical Cyclone Ana 07S. Although the storm is now being descriibed as weakening as it moves over land, heavy rain over central Mozambique can be expected and local flooding may occur in northern Mozambique, Malawi, and parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe during the early part of this week.

TS Ana was reported by Meteo France from the Tropical Cyclone Center in La Reunion as positioned at 16.5 South and 40.8 East at 06h00 on 24 January, with an average wind speed of 45 knots. The TS system was showing signs of intensification over the previous six hours and was moving moving towards the south-west and the Mozambique coast and was expected to straighten up slightly towards the west.

In a humid tropospheric environment, with a good altitude divergence and an equatorial evacuation channel, this system could reach the stage of a strong tropical storm before making landfall, it said.

The system should then continue in a general westerly direction, taking it south of Malawi on Tuesday night. Meteo France warned the system has found more favourable environmental conditions for its development.

WINDS: Coastal gusts of 100 to 130 km/h are possible in the next few hours (from 06h00 Monday) in the vicinity of the landing zone (towards the town of Angoche). On Monday night strong winds with gusts to 80-100 km/h will reach the coastal area between Quelimane and Beira.

RAINS: Intense rains up to 100mm are expected in the next hours near the impact area. Once inland frequent accumulations of 100/150mm in 24 hours is expected along the trajectory during the next 24-30 hours, with locally 200mm possible on the plateaus. These heavy rains will reach a large southern half of Malawi during the night. source: mainly Meteo France | Cyclocane

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Tanger Med Port Results: 7 million TEU mark exceeded

Meanwhile, Morocco’s port terminal of Tanger Med has recorded a 7.1 million TEU throughput in 2021, consolidating its position in the Mediterranean as the region’s busiest hub for global maritime alliances. These are led by Maersk Line, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, according to the Tanger Med Port Authority.

It reported that the port handled a total of 7,173,870 TEU last year, up 24% compared with 2020.

Tanger Med’s TC4 terminal was commissioned in 2019 followed by TC3 in 2021 and both these have played a signifiacnt role in ramping up container handling at the port, the majority of which if transshipment cargo.

During 2021 10,902 ships called at Tanger Med, an increase of 12% on the previous year. Of this number, 929 of the vessels were in the mega-ship class.

“These performances accomplished during 2021 affirm the position of the port complex as a major strategic hub but also its key role as a privileged logistics platform serving the national logistic competitiveness,” the port authority said.

“The achievements are the result of the continued collaboration of all the partners of Tanger Med port complex. Particularly ship-owners, concessionaires, local authorities, and administrations.”

Digitisation

Since 15 November 2021 the formalities involving the import and export of containers and trucks activities became fully digitised. Operators are able to perform the formalities of the port passage online and electronically submit all the required documents to the services responsible for the management of the Import-Export activities.

The total digitisation of the port passage will become mandatory starting from 15 February 2022.

In June last year Tanger Med, Hapag-Lloyd, and Anglo-Eastern Ship Management succesfully enabled the world’s first digitally controlled port arrival, when the Hapag-Lloyd container ship KOBE EXPRESS berthed safely and on-time at Tanger Med port using the Wärtsilä Navi-Port system.

Overall port volumes for Tanger Med:

Total Tonnage:

Overall tonnage achieved at the Tanger Med port complex was 101,054,713 tons of goods, and increase of 25% compoared to 2020. This amount is equal to more than 50% of overall tonnage handled by all Moroccan ports.

Ro-Ro Traffic:

The port complex handled 407,459 trucks in 2021, up by 14% compared to 2020. This traffic was mainly driven by the resumption of industrial exports as well as by the good performance of the agricultural season and agro-industrial exports.

New Vehicle Traffic:

429,509 new vehicles were handled at the two vehicle terminals of Tanger Med port in 2021, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. This mainly included 278,651 Renault vehicles including 250,532 for export, and 100,030 Groupe PSA vehicles exported.

Liquid Bulk Traffic

Total liquid bulk (Hydrocarbons) handled was 8,744,900 tons, an increase of 9% on 2020.

Liquid bulk traffic has increased by 9% compared to 2020. It recorded a total traffic of 8,744,900 tons of hydrocarbons handled.

Dry Bulk Traffic

Dry (solid) bulk cargo handled was 342,804 tons, an increase of 13% compared to 2020 driven by the traffic of steel coils, wind blades and grain.

Passenger Traffic

Passenger traffic decreased by 14% to 587,320 passengers, a result of the Covid-19 health restrictions.

Total Vessel Calls

10,902 vessels called at Tanger Med in 2021, up by 12% from 2020. Over the past year, the port complex has welcomed nearly 929 mega-ships (over 290 metres in size). source Tanger Med Port Authority

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Transport minister to visit Dormac Marine, then address captains of industry

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula will visit the Dormac Ship Repair Yard & Floating Dock this morning (Monday 24 January 2022) where he will gain an oversight of the ship repair industry in the port and country.

Dormac Marine occupies a strategic position in the Bayhead with its own quayside and floating dock. Dormac also has repair facilities in the Port of Cape Town.

Following the in-loco visit to the Bayhead the minister will meet with captains of industry at a beachfront hotel where, according to sources at the DoT, he will “unveil critical investments” that will enhance the country’s interests involved with Operation Phakisa.

Operations Phakisa (meaning ‘hurry-up’) is a cross-sector initiative aimed at addressing constraints and fast-tracking the implementation of solutions on critical economic development issues. These include unlocking South Africa’s Ocean Economy in terms of the maritime sector and accelerating the delivery of certain of the development projects.

Mbalula may also shed more light on implementing the Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy which aims to create a nurturing environment for entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses.

He may also unveil plans to attract investments in the promised construction of world-class port infrastructure, particularly at the port of Durban (see next article).

“The investments that will be unveiled by the minister are a catalyst towards attracting investments in the construction of new world class infrastructure and advancing the competitiveness of our port as strategic drivers of economic growth,” the minister’s office said at the weekend.

So far the department has given the green light to certain port-related investments, which it says will deliver tangible economic dividends and place South Africa on a sustainable growth path.

These include:

• A Liquid bulk operating license to develop and operate a liquid bulk terminal
• Construction of onshore LNG Regasification Facility

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Durban port R100 billion Master Plan

Will Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula shed any more light on Transnet’s R100-billion Port Master Plan for Durban, which it announced during 2021?

Mbalula is visiting the port today (see report above) and will later address representative of industry to ‘unveil’ investment plans.

At the time when these investment plans were announced last year, details of the programme remained unclear, although it was said that the money would come from private sector investment which would help finance the ambitious plans.

The mention of R100 billion served as a familiar reminder of the similar amount quoted for the construction of the Durban Dig Out Port, south of the present Durban Bay. That grand plan, much publicised and with great detail and planning, died a sudden death and went on the back shelf to gather dust in the engineers’ offices.

Requests for Information (RFI) have been issued for the current Master Plan that solicit potential private sector partners, which is being interpreted by a number of people including the affected trade unions as nothing more than invitations to the private sector to take on the development and management of important port terminals, such as the Durban Container Terminal, which handles over 60% of South Africa’s containers.

Transnet National Ports Authority has admitted it does not have the money to finance the Master Plan but says the investments will come from private sector. What this presumably means involves terminal operators who would expect control over how the terminals are operated.

The majority of port users and cargo owners will applaud such moves and agree that the only way the Durban and other South African container terminals are going to claw their way up the efficiency ladder from a collective last place out of over 350 ports, will be to invite in professional terminal operators. Very few however expect that something of this nature will actually take place in South Africa’s labour landscape.

Transnet from back in the days when it operated under a different identity and culture, has always believed the way out of inefficiencies is to throw excuses or money at a problem. The money solution is to expand and build a bigger terminal or even a bigger port, filling in more parts of the harbour in the process, instead of focusing on improving the efficiency levels at its own coalface. It need also to involve all other roleplayers or stakeholders – the rail sector, city road planners, etc and to plan and execute an overall practical solution based mainly on working better.

Right now Transnet doesn’t have the money for grandiose R100-billion schemes, and to have any hope of moving with these schemes requires, as has been stated by Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, the involvement of the private sector. This will inevitably have to come from offshore, but how to overcome or avoid nationwide strikes and political interference.

Few private investors are expected to offer their American dollars, or Chinese yuans if it comes to that, without clear answers on the labour industrial question.

  – trh

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Cyclone considered likely over Mozambique Channel and coast

The summer’s first tropical cyclone is considered likely in the Mozambique Channel and reaching across central Mozambique within the next couple of days. Earlier the Mozambique weather office forecast storms affecting Nampula, Zambezia,and Sofala provinces as a weather system made its way around Madagascar and into the Mozambique Channel over the weekend.

The bureau advised the low pressure system was reaching the status of a Tropical Disturbance and was likely to become a Tropical Depression, with winds of up to 80km/h hitting Madagascar.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), based in Hawaii, said early Sunday that the formation of a significant Tropical Cyclone was possible within 180 nautical miles of a line from 17.5S 47.1E TO 16.2S 39.8E within the next 12 to 24 hours.

Winds in the area were estimated to be 25 to 30 knots. The system was moving westward at 16 knots and was then approximately 90 n.miles northwest of Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar.

While the JTWC considered the formation of a Tropical Cyclone to be high, it did not yet think that available data justified the issuance of numbered Tropical Cyclone Warnings at this time.

However, it warned that the potential for the development of a “significant Tropical Cyclone” within the next 24 hours to be high.

Cyclones may travel further south

Meanwhile, a researcher at the University of Witwatersrand, Dr Jennifer Fitchett wrote in the current issue of the South African Journal of Science, that South Africa may face more tropical cyclones as a result of climate change that sees the waters of the Indian Ocean warming up.

As a result South Africa and southern Mozambique, which are generally considered too far south to endure cyclones, though there have been exceptions, may in future begin experiencing them more often.

It’s been surmised that these future storms, that develop in mid Indian Ocean, may be able to bypass the Madagascar landmass where often they expend much of their energy, and arrive on the southeast African coast with more regularity.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Lowest reported maritime piracy incidents: Caution urged nevertheless

It was announced simultaneously in London and Kuala Lumpur on 13 January that maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks reached the lowest recorded level since 1994. This was disclosed in the annual piracy report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), published that day.

IMB attributes the drop in incidents to vigorous action taken by authorities but has called for continued coordination and vigilance to ensure the long-term protection of seafarers.

IMB Director Michael Howlett said: ‘While the overall reduction in globally reported incidents is welcomed the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre urges coastal states to acknowledge the inherent risk from piracy and armed robbery and robustly address this crime within the waters of their exclusive economic zone. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre remains committed to actively engage and exchange information with coastal states to promote safety for seafarers and trade.’

In 2021, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre received 132 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships. Incidents comprise 115 vessels boarded, 11 attempted attacks, five vessels fired upon and one vessel hijacked.

Gulf of Guinea remains world’s piracy hotspot

The increased presence of international naval vessels and cooperation with regional authorities has had a positive impact – including, commended, robust actions of the Royal Danish Navy in neutralising a suspected pirate action group in late November.

The overall reduction in reported incidents in 2021 is attributed to a decline of activity reported within the Gulf of Guinea region which has seen a decrease from 81 reported incidents in 2020 to 34 in 2021. However, while kidnappings at sea dropped 55% in 2021, the Gulf of Guinea continues to account for all kidnapping incidents globally, with 57 crew taken in seven separate incidents.

While the regional decrease is welcomed the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre warns that the threat to seafarers persists and continues to urge crews and vessels plying these waters to be cautious as the perpetrators remain violent and risk to crews remains high. This is evidenced by the kidnapping of six innocent crew from a container vessel in mid-December.

Howlett added: ‘The IMB commends the robust actions of the international navies and regional authorities in the Gulf of Guinea which appears to have positively contributed to the drop in reported incidents and ensuring continued safety to crews and trade.

‘While the IMB applauds these actions it further calls on the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea to increase their collaboration and physical presence in their waters to ensure a long term and sustainable solution to address the crime of piracy and armed robbery in the region.’

Attacks on the rise in the Singapore Straits

Thirty-five incidents against vessels navigating the Singapore Straits were reported to the Piracy Reporting Centre in 2021, a 50% increase from 2020 and the highest number of reported incidents since 1992. Vessels were boarded in 33 of the 35 incidents, considered mostly to be opportunistic thefts, though two crew were injured in two separate cases. Knives were also reported in 13 incidents and guns in a further two.

The continued efforts of the Indonesian Marine Police are credited for maintaining reduced levels of incidents in the Indonesian Archipelagic, reports received in 2021 were down to nine from 26 in 2020 and the lowest since 1993. Of the reported incidents four were off Jakarta and knives were reported in at least five, in which one crew was threatened.

Two perpetrators killed in the Caribbean

In December, at Port au Prince, Haiti, four robbers disguised as fishermen and armed with guns and knives boarded a bulk carrier and threatened the duty crew. The locally appointed armed guards exchanged fire resulting in two perpetrators being killed.

South American ports in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and ports in Mexico and Haiti continue to be affected by incidents of armed robbery at sea. Thirty-six incidents were reported in 2021 compared to 30 in 2020, with six crew threatened, four taken hostage and two assaulted. Thirty-one vessels were boarded in total, the majority at anchor, figures for the region include three reported attempted boardings and two vessels being fired upon. Incidents in the Peruvian anchorage of Callao have more than doubled from eight in 2020 to 18 in 2021.

 

Continued improvements off Somalia

While the direct threat of attacks from Somali based pirates appears to have decreased – along with a further revision and reduction of the High Risk Area in September – the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre continues to encourage vigilance among shipmasters, particularly when transiting close to the Somali coast.

About the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre

Since its founding in 1991, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre remains a single point of contact to report all crimes of maritime piracy and armed robbery, 24-hours a day. In line with ICC’s purpose to enable business to secure peace, prosperity and opportunity for all, the Centre’s prompt forwarding of reports and liaison with response agencies, broadcasts to shipping via GMDSS Safety Net Services and email alerts to CSOs, all provided at no cost, help the response against piracy and armed robbery, promoting the security of seafarers globally and facilitating global trade.

IMB encourages all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspected global piracy and armed robbery incidents to the Piracy Reporting Centre as a vital first step to ensuring adequate resources are allocated by authorities to tackle maritime piracy.

For further information

Readers are invited to contact for further information: Michael Howlett, Director, ICC International Maritime Bureau; Telephone: +44 207 423 6960;
e-mail: mhowlett@icc-ccs.org

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

IN CONVERSATION: Africa faces an uphill battle against western emissions to combat climate change

Margaret Kadiri, King’s College London

The UN climate summit COP26, held in November 2021, focused the world’s attention on the urgent need to tackle climate change and concluded with 197 countries agreeing to the Glasgow climate pact. But opinions on the summit’s success are polarised.

We owe a profound gratitude to the developing nations – including those from Africa – who agreed to the pact. In doing so, they chose not to insist that richer developed nations, whose historical and ongoing greenhouse gas emissions have largely caused the climate crisis, pay reparations to them for the damage they’ve inflicted.

African nations continue to hold the unenviable position of being disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. Although the continent accounts for the smallest share of global greenhouse gas emissions – only 3.8% – it’s already heating faster than the rest of the world.

And if the target of limiting global warming to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels is missed, Africa could be facing catastrophic temperature increases of up to 3℃ by 2050.

At the same time, the threat to GDP of African nations that are most vulnerable to these changes – meaning the amount of economic activity that stands to be lost if these changes are severe enough – is projected to increase from £660 billion in 2018 to over £1 trillion in 2023. That’s almost half of the continent’s projected GDP.

Given these estimates, Africa’s climate resilience must exceed the global norm. And some steps are being taken to protect the continent against the worst climate consequences through investments from national governments and the private sector. Organisations such as the African Development Bank and the UN Environment Programme are also leading climate change adaptation measures, like working to protect mangroves on over 200 million hectares of land.

However, the estimated yearly cost of this kind of climate adaptation for developing nations is around £52 billion – and is expected to rise to between £100-220 billion by 2030. While developed nations agreed in the Glasgow pact to double climate change contributions to their developing counterparts by about £29 billion by 2025, this amount is just a fraction of what’s needed.

Next steps

One way to close this gap could be to leverage the Paris climate agreement, specifically, a subsection of article six that allows countries with high emissions, such as the US and UK, to offset them through investing in sustainable initiatives like reforestation in low-emitting countries: including those in Africa. Such partnerships could act as a catalyst for the growth of low carbon energy projects such as solar, geothermal and wind power.

Another option could be to redirect local government money towards sustainable schemes. The total amount provided by African national governments in fossil fuel subsidies rose to £55 billion in 2015 alone, causing calls for “phasing down” these subsidies to be enshrined in the Glasgow climate pact.

Since subsidy money was flowing into an industry employing less than 1% of Africa’s workforce, it could instead be invested back into African economies, creating inclusive, environmentally friendly job opportunities. For example, it might be used to fund startups like Gjenge Makers: a Kenyan business making paving blocks and tiles out of recycled plastic.

Despite contributing the least to the changing climate, many African nations are also taking strides to transition to renewable energy. The world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) facility in Morocco, Noor Power Plant, converts the Sun’s energy to electricity for around two million households.

Unlike more widely used photovoltaic panels, CSP enables solar energy to be stored for nights and cloudy days. The facility generates more than a third of Morocco’s power while reducing carbon emissions by around 690,000 tonnes per year.

Projects like these don’t just create more jobs, they also make more money. Up to £236 billion of new business opportunities that aim to climate-proof food and land systems – including preserving local forest ecosystems and restoring degraded landscapes – could be added each year to Africa’s economies between now and 2030.

Margaret Kadiri, Lecturer in Physical Geography, King’s College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

British warship intercepts over on ton of illegal drugs in Gulf of Oman

HMS MONTROSE (F236) was on patrol when the stateless dhow was observed and investigated in international waters. After boarding to carry out the inspection 633 kilograms of heroin, 87 kg of methamphetamine and 291 kilograms of hashish and marijuana worth a combined U.S. street value estimated at $26 million, was discovered.

HMS Montrose is operating as part of an international task force called Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, which has increased regional patrols to locate and disrupt unlawful maritime activity. This includes the transporting of drugs and weapons and ammunition.

CTF 150 is one of three task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, an international naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, north Arabian Sea, Gulf of Arabia and Horn of Africa region.

HMS Montrose is one of the longest serving naval vessels with CTF 150, having been operating in the region since 2019 from Bahrain. Her crew are regularly rotated.

“Nine rotations into the forward-deployed model, HMS Montrose remains as professional and enthusiastic as ever,” said Cmdr Claire Thompson, the ship’s commanding officer.

Combined Maritime Forces is the largest multinational naval partnership in the world. The organisation includes 34 nations and is headquartered in Bahrain with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

First ship-to-containership LNG bunkering operation performed on CMA CGM Bali

The port of Marseille Fos has performed its first ship-to-containership Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering operation when the 15,000-TEU CMA CGM BALI (IMO 9867827) was refueled in the port by TotalEnergy’s GAS VITALITY.

This is a first for Marseille Fos in southern France.

CMA CGM Bali is deployed on the MEX-1 service, connecting Asia and South Europe. The ship took around 6,000m3 of LNG, by means of a ship-to-ship transfer alongside the Eurofos container terminal, while the containership carried out cargo operations simultaneously.

The Gas Vitality is TotalEnergies’ second chartered LNG bunker vessel and owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd (MOL).

CMA CGM is a pioneer in the use of LNG as a ship’s main fuel. In November of 2017, Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM Group’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, decided to make CMA CGM the first ship-owner in the world to equip its flagship 23,000-TEU vessels with engines using liquefied natural gas (LNG) – a first in the history of shipping for Ultra Large Container Vessels.

TotalEnergies was chosen as part of a major industrial partnership to supply CMA CGM LNG ships with gas in Rotterdam, Singapore and Marseille. Marseille is the first LNG bunkering hub in France for shipping, for all the Mediterranean and South Europe area, and CMA CGM’s third one to be created after Rotterdam and Singapore.

By the end of 2024, the CMA CGM Group will have a fleet of 44 LNG-powered vessels, ‘e-methane ready’ of various sizes. Twenty-four ships are already in service. The engines deployed on these vessels already have the technical capability of using bio-methane (already in use) and e-methane, a carbon-neutral fuel, making them simultaneously an immediate and a long-term solution to the challenge of decarbonisation.

LNG is the most advanced available solution when it comes to preserving air quality, a major public health challenge for communities in coastal areas and port cities. It reduces sulfur oxide emissions by 99%, particulate matter emissions by 91%, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 92%.

A LNG-powered vessel also emits up to 23% less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuel-powered systems.

Sign up for Africa Ports & Ships – it’s free
Added 24 January 2022

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

in partnership with – APO

More News at https://africaports.co.za/category/News/

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“How absurd it was that in all seven kingdoms, the weakest and most vulnerable of people – girls, women – went unarmed and were taught nothing of fighting, while the strong were trained to the highest reaches of their skill.”

― Kristin Cashore, Graceling

♠♠♠

News continues below………

More Earlier News at https://africaports.co.za/category/News/

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

TO ADVERTISE HERE

Request a Rate Card from info@africaports.co.za

EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT

Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port

Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.

In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.

You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by  CLICKING HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.

News continues below

CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES

QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman

We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.

Naval News

Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♠♠♠

ADVERTISING

For a Rate Card please contact us at info@africaports.co.za

Don’t forget to send us your news and press releases for inclusion in the News Bulletins. Shipping related pictures submitted by readers are always welcome. Email to info@africaports.co.za

 

TABLE BAY UNDERWAY SHIPPING SHIP PHOTOGRAPHERS Colour photographs and slides for sale of a variety of ships.Thousands of items listed featuring famous passenger liners of the past to cruise ships of today, freighters, container vessels, tankers, bulkers, naval and research vessels.P O BOX 809, CAPE TOWN, 8000, SOUTH AFRICA snai@worldonline.co.za http://home.worldonline.co.za/~snai

 

================================================================